#WrestleRome

Thursday's Matteo Pellicone finals set

Thursday, June 23, 2022 - 08:18 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (June 23) -- After Azerbaijan dominanted day one action, winning four Greco-Roman gold medals, the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series enters day with the remaining three Greco-Roman and four women's weight in action. A titanic clash of world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) and Olympic silver Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) awaits in the 68kg semifinal.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Thursday's final matches (as they come in):

Women's Wrestling 
57kg - Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) vs. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) 
62kg - Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) vs. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) 
68kg -  Alla BELINSKA (UKR) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA) 
76kg - Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) vs. Yelena Ivanovna MAKOYED (USA) 

Greco-Roman
72kg - Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) vs. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) 
77kg - Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) vs. Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) 
82kg - Rasoul Sadegh GARMSIRI (IRI) vs. Mihail BRADU (MDA) 

1:15: Ana Paula GODINEZ just let a late second-period lead slip for a second time today. She was beating Olympic bronze medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) by two points but gave up a headlock and trails 7-6 with short time left.

12:45: Are you serious? What a statement!

Ringaci stopped an Oborududu head-outside single with her judo-esk whip over and picked up the 33 second fall. She just pinned the reigning Olympic silver medalist in 33 seconds. 

12:40: Here. We. Go! It's Oborududu and Ringaci on Mat C.

12:15: The headlining matchup between world champ Ringaci and Olympic silver medalist Oborududu just got assigned to Mat C. They'll wrestle in four matches (Bout 148) 

12:11: The Hungarian 77kg world team wrestle off between Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) vs. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) will take place next on Mat B.

12:05: Two of the biggest women's wrestling stars are on the Mat now. European champion Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) is wrestling now on Mat B and Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) is on Mat C.

Keep in mind: if Oborududu wins, it'll set up a match against world champ Ringaci in the 68kg semifinals.

11:55: We're already calling semifinals matches to Mat B. We still have a few matches on Mats A and C, but we'll roll right into the semifinal once these quarterfinal and pool-play matches wrap up.

11:44: What is happening? Who is Yelena Makoyed and where did she come from?

Makoyed beat world bronze medalist Kuenz in the first round and just took down European champ Mae twice in 25 seconds to win, 8-6.

11:29: World No. 1 Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) is up on now on Mat B. He's wrestling Turkey's two-time Matteo Pellicone runner-up, Selcuk CAN (TUR).

11:05: Reigning world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) will be up in six matches on Mat B. She'll wrestle Grabriela PEDRO DA ROCHA (BRA) this round, and if she wins, she'll likely have Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) in the 68kg semifinals.

11:03: Similar to the scenarios that we had yesterday with the Hungarian wrestle offs at 87kg and 97kg, Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) and Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) will be wrestling for the world team spot at 77kg.

10:58: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) hasn't wrestled since the Tokyo Olympic Games, when she defeated Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT) to win Tokyo bronze. She'll re get acclimated to the wrestling scene today against Sara Johanna LINDBORG (SWE).

*She did attend the European Championships in Budapest as a coach.

10:51: Welcome to the senior-level, Yelena Ivanovna MAKOYED (USA). The American just made her international debut, announcing her presence with a shocking 10-2 win over world bronze medalist Martina KUENZ (AUT).

Her next test: European champion Epp MAE (EST).

10:37: Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) just stole an Round One win against U23 world champion Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) late in the second period. The Ukrainian wrestlers picked the perfect time to strike, scoring a takedown and a turn to win the match, 6-4.

#WrestleZagreb

Motoki leads Japanese trio to Worlds finals

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 15:47 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 17) -- After a slightly subdued start to its Women's Wrestling, Japan managed to show up at the World Championships.

Japan put three wrestlers in the final out of the four weight classes that were in action on Wednesday in Zagreb. Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) remained on course for her first world title at 62kg while Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) will look to add to their world titles at 53kg and 68kg.

Motoki was up against former world champion Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) in the semifinals and she began with a four-pointer. Purevdorj got a reversal but that was all she managed in the match as Motoki kept coming up with different ways to score the takedowns. At 10-1, she scored another four-pointer to win 14-1 and enter her second world final.

For the elusive gold, she will face Ok Ju KIM (PRK) who pinned Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) in the other semifinal after building a 14-3 lead.

Murayama, a three-time world champion, will wrestle for her fourth world title after she won a close semifinal against Hyogyong CHOE (PRK). Both traded activity points but Murayama had a stepout which proved to the be difference as she won 2-1.

On Thursday, she will face Olympic silver medalist Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) in the final after the Ecuadorian defeated world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND), 5-3, majorly with four-pointer in the first period and protecting her lead.

Yepez hit a duck under to throw Antim for four and gave up a reversal to lead 4-1 in the break. The Indian tried to find the opening but she only got one in the final 10 seconds after giving up a takedown. Yepez was happy to give up that final takedown as it did not affect her win and only changed the score to 5-3.

Ecuador, a country which did not have a world finalist till Tuesday, now has two. Yepez is the second on consecutive day after Genesis REASCO (ECU) entered the 76kg final to create history.

World 72kg champion Ishii, who dropped down to 68kg this year, took a step closer to her second world title after she bullied through two Olympic medalist in quarterfinals and semifinals.

Ishii dominated silver medalist from Paris Kennedy BLADES (USA), 12-2, and had a similar match against bronze medalist against Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the semifinals.

Ishii was straight to work in the semifinal with a four-pointer as Tosun landed on her back despite controlling Ishii's legs. Turkiye challenged that scoring but lost it, giving one more point to Ishii.

She scored three different takedowns to finish the match 11-0 inside the first period and enter her second world final.

Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) will look to stop Ishii from winning the gold medal after she upset world 65kg champion Jia LONG (CHN) in the semifinal. Yaneva fell behind 1-1 on criteria but scored a takedown with around one minute and 30 seconds on the clock to lead 3-1.

From there on, Long was on the backfoot and a win seemed further away as she was cautioned for a point for locking fingers. As she tried to trip Yaneva, the Bulgarian blocked her and got the winning takedown for a 6-1 win.

At 72kg, multiple age-group world medalist Nesrin BAS (TUR) managed to reach her first-ever senior world final after she won a thrilling semifinal against Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6.

Bas scored a four-pointer using a whizzer to lead 4-1 at the break. Li scored a takedown to begin the second period but Bas elevated her leg from the front to score two points and lead 6-3. Turkiye challenged the call and the scored for reversed to 8-4. Li tried to mount a comeback from there but she managed only two points while Bas scored a reversal to win 9-6.

For her first world title, she will face Alla BELINSKA (UKR) who used a whizzer to pin Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs. Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN)

SF 1: Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) df. Hyogyong CHOE (PRK), 2-1
SF 2: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) df. ANTIM (IND), 5-3

62kg
GOLD: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) vs. Ok Ju KIM (PRK)

SF 1: Ok Ju KIM (PRK) df. Amina TANDELOVA (UWW), via fall
SF 2: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) df. Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL), 14-1

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) vs. Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)

SF 1: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Jia LONG (CHN), 6-1
SF 2: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Buse TOSUN (TUR), 11-0

72kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) vs. Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

SF 1: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6
SF 2: Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ), via fall